Jackson Bauman led the way with 20 points and Moon Area used a stifling defensive effort to defeat visiting Penn-Trafford, 45-30, Tuesday night in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball tournament.
The win vaults the fourth-seeded Tigers into Friday’s quarterfinal-round matchup with No. 5 Gateway, a 56-50 overtime winner over 12th-seeded Indiana Tuesday night.
The time and location of Friday’s game will be announced Wednesday.
Moon limited 13th-seeded Penn-Trafford to four first-quarter points and led by five. The visitors sliced the deficit to 15-13 at halftime, but Moon turned up the defensive intensity, limiting the Warriors to just two third-quarter points while scoring 14.
That proved to be the difference as the Tigers – ranked No. 2 in Class 5A by TribLive – improved to 19-3.
Moon coach Gino Palmosina said it took a while for his team to find its rhythm, noting that it had been 10 days since the Tigers last played a game.
“But for the most part I’m proud of the guys,” he said. “Whether you win ugly, pretty, decent or half-decent, it doesn’t matter. You just gotta win.
“At this time of the year, it’s just survive and advance.”
Palmosina said Penn-Trafford tried to slow the pace in the early going, but Moon adjusted in the second half, using pressure defense to create some scoring opportunities. Still, he said the game remained tight into the final minute.
“It was a good high school basketball game,” he said.
Moon has won 15 of its last 16 games dating back to Dec. 23, with the lone loss during that stretch coming at the hands of Lincoln Park, 72-58, on Jan. 20. Lincoln Park is the tournament’s No. 2 seed behind Chartiers Valley, both of which play in the same section as Moon.
AJ Buford added eight points for Moon.
Moon Area’s Caden Kopay drives past Penn-Trafford’s Peyton Mastro and Ben Lenart. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s AJ Buford drives around Penn-Trafford’s Ben Lenart. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Braeden Stuart goes in for a layup in front of Penn-Trafford’s Tyler Boss. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Jackson Bauman drives past Penn-Trafford’s Dante Leonello. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Jackson Bauman drives past Penn-Trafford’s Trent Brown and Dante Leonello. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Caleb Waclawski goes in for a layup against Penn-Trafford’s Nick Ponko. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Caleb Waclawski goes in for a layup against Penn-Trafford’s Zachary Feldman. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Brody Bauman drives around Penn-Trafford’s Tyler Boss. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Caden Kopay drives to the hoop in front of Penn-Trafford’s Tyler Boss. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Jackson Bauman drives to the hoop past a trio of Penn-Trafford defenders. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School. 
Moon Area’s Brody Bauman drives around Penn-Trafford’s Anthony Stagno. The Tigers hosted the Warriors in first-round action of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday night at Moon High School.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
Chartiers Valley 61, Montour 48
Julius Best led a balanced attack with 16 points and the top seed in the Class 5A tournament outlasted the Spartans in a first-round matchup at Chartiers Valley.
Chartiers Valley, the Section 4 champion, had its hands full in the early going with Montour, as the Spartans led 11-10 after one quarter and trailed by just five, 28-23, at halftime.
But the Colts, ranked No. 1 among all WPIAL Class 5A schools and No. 2 in the state by TribLive, took control in the third quarter, outscoring Montour 15-5 to lead 43-28 heading into the final quarter.
Julian Semplice added 14 points for Chartiers Valley while Danny Slizik contributed 11 and Luca Federico chipped in 10.
Mark Carter’s 12 points led Montour, which finished 9-15.
Montour coach Bill Minear said his young team executed well through most of the first half.
“We had the tempo exactly where we needed it,” he said. “But we had three or four bad offensive possessions where we got kind of impatient and took some quick shots. I guess that was our inexperience.”
Montour trailed just 28-26 in the third quarter but Chartiers Valley turned a pair of Montour turnovers into points, and another squandered Spartans possession led to a Colts 3-pointer that resulted in an eight-point lead.
Chartiers Valley was able to spread the court and take control in the fourth quarter for the win.
“They’re good,” Minear said of the Colts. “They’re the No. 1 seed and they’re that for a reason. We kind of had them off-balance early but we couldn’t sustain it.”
Tuesday marked the second straight year that Chartiers Valley eliminated Montour from the WPIAL tournament. A year ago, the fourth-seeded Colts knocked off the top-seeded Spartans, 47-44, in the Class 5A semifinals after losing twice to Montour during the regular season.
The two teams also wound up meeting in the PIAA playoffs, where Chartiers Valley prevailed, 48-38, in a second-round matchup.
CLASS 3A
Shady Side Academy 61, Bishop Canevin 48
Kai Lamberson poured in 32 points and the Bulldogs got the jump early on the Crusaders and pulled off the upset in the opening round of the Class 3A Tournament at Bishop Canevin.
Shady Side Academy entered the tournament as the No. 13 seed and brought an 8-14 overall record into Tuesday night’s game. Bishop Canevin was the tournament’s No. 4 seed and had the home-court advantage.
That advantage didn’t pay off, however, as Shady Side Academy jumped out to a 20-10 first-quarter lead, and that proved to be the difference. The Bulldogs led 33-22 at halftime, 47-34 at the end of three quarters, and the two teams played to a 14-14 stalemate in the final quarter.
Bishop Canevin coach Tim Tyree Jr. said his team failed to execute its typical game plan, and that proved deadly.
“We didn’t play four quarters of our defense, which led to a lot of easy baskets for them,” he said. “They did a good job in their zone forcing us to take tough shots.
“To have a home playoff game and to have that type of letdown is disappointing. We made some pushes late to cut into the lead, but it was hard for us to play our style from behind.”
Still, Tyree said he was proud of the way his team played in his first season at the helm.
“We just came up a little too short tonight,” he said.
Alex Demchack backed up Lamberson with 12 points. Drew Allen scored 15 points in his final game for Bishop Canevin and Lamier Wade added 12 for the Crusaders, who finished their season 13-9.
Aliquippa 68, Sto-Rox 48
The underdog Vikings played the No. 2 seeded Quips fairly even for three quarters, but the first eight minutes proved fatal in an opening-round loss in the Class 3A Tournament.
Aliquippa bolted to a 21-5 lead in the first quarter, and that was enough to ensure victory and move the Quips into the quarterfinals against Seton LaSalle, an 80-52 winner over Charleroi.
Sto-Rox coach Ryan Hughes said the early deficit was too much to overcome.
“We gave everything we could, but we came out slow,” he said. “We missed shots at the worst times and had a few mental breakdowns on defense that led to easy baskets.
“But I told them I was proud of them. It just wasn’t our night.”
Delaun Harris scored 13 points to lead Sto-Rox, which finished the season 8-15, while Marcus Griffin had 11 and Karic Willis and MJ Thomas each contributed nine.
QaLil Goode led Aliquippa with 18 points while DeJuan Hill added 15 and Anthony Ingram 10.
He’s a sophomore**